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1. Cattle Movement Sheds Light on Disease Risk
By Kansas State Univ.
Laboratory Equipment
August 3, 2015
A new technique developed by a Kansas State University researcher helps estimate the movement of beef cattle to determine the risk of disease.
Caterina Scoglio, professor of electrical and computer engineering, co-authored a study that used aggregated data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to estimate detailed movement of cattle. Privacy concerns in the U.S. prevent animal health officials from obtaining and sharing full cattle movement data.
"Movement in other countries is well documented, but not in the U.S.," Scoglio said. "A national animal ID system is not in place, so there is no detailed data on where cattle come and where they go."
Highly accurate risk assessment or predictions of disease spread depend on knowing how cattle move through the central U.S. "We have disaster response plans, but to know where to act effectively to stop an epidemic requires movement data," Scoglio said.
"This study provides a cost-effective approach to estimate cattle movements from available aggregate data," said Phillip Schumm, research geneticist at the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and co-author of the study. Schumm earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Kansas State University, with Scoglio serving as his major professor.
Full text:
http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2015/08/cattle-movement-sheds-light-disease-risk
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2. INFORM: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Trade
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
July 31, 2015
APHIS Veterinary Services continues to work with state and industry partners to mitigate trade impacts caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and to plan for possible detections in the fall. Summaries for two recent meetings on these topics are now available on the APHIS website.
The summary of the International Conference on Avian Influenza and Poultry Trade, held June 22 - 24, 2015, in Baltimore, provides conclusions and recommendations for key issues common to trading partners affected by avian influenza. APHIS will provide full proceedings from the meeting in the near future.
[See: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/ai_conference.pdf ]
APHIS has also posted a report of the HPAI fall planning workshop that was held in Riverdale, MD, on June 30 and July 1, 2015. This report gives an overview of the discussions held at the workshop, focusing on the following areas: biosecurity, depopulation and disposal (includes cleaning/disinfection and indemnity), diagnostics, and vaccination and trade.
[See: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/hpai_fall_workshop.pdf ]
Full text:
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/bulletins/11245c1
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3. NYS announces bird flu emergency drill
By Brian Nearing
Albany Times Union
July 31, 2015
The state has simulated an outbreak of bird flu to be better prepared should the disease spread into the state's poultry flocks.
Per a press release:
State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today announced that the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets joined representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Mental Health, Department of Transportation, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Division of Military and Naval Affairs, New York State Police and the United States Department of Agriculture for an emergency preparedness exercise to ensure a coordinated response to protect the state's poultry industry in the event the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus arrives in New York State.
To date, the rapidly expanding viral outbreak has already affected approximately 48 million birds in the Midwest and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed that the current outbreak is the worst in U.S. history.
Commissioner Ball said, "We recognize the serious threat this disease poses to the livelihoods of farms in New York and have been exercising every bit of caution to minimize the incidence of avian influenza in our state's poultry population. Our best line of defense is a quick response and emergency planning is important to make sure New York is coordinated and ready to respond on all fronts in case avian influenza is detected in New York State."
The emergency planning meeting took place at the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services offices in Albany and included representatives from several state agencies involved in the Disaster Preparedness Commission. As part of the tabletop exercise, the Department of Agriculture and Markets presented potential scenarios should an avian influenza case be detected in a poultry flock in the state. Participating agencies discussed various aspects of their response plan, including their on-the-ground activation and public awareness plan.
Full text:
http://blog.timesunion.com/green/nys-announces-bird-flu-emergency-drill/4639/
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4. Father and son sentenced for illegally trafficking deer
NBC4 Staff
NBC4i.com
August 3, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)-A father and son have been sentenced for their parts in illegally trafficking deer from Ohio to Florida.
Donald W. Wainwright Sr., 49, of Live Oak, Fla., was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 21 months in prison and a $125,000 fine for 12 charges related to violating the Lacey Act, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. His son, Donald W. Wainwright, Jr., 29, of Live Oak, Fla., was sentenced to four months of house arrest and three years of probation for eight charges related to violating the Lacey Act.
According to court documents, the co-conspirators trafficked in live white-tailed deer. Wainwright Sr. owned hunting preserves in Logan County, Ohio, and Live Oak, Florida; both preserves were named Valley View Whitetails. Wainwright Jr. was part-time resident and part-time operator of the site in Ohio.
Full text:
http://nbc4i.com/2015/08/03/father-and-son-sentenced-for-illegally-trafficking-deer/
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5. State Rescue Farm Aids Animals And The Inmates Who Care For Them [CT]
By Gregory B. Hladky
Hartford Courant
August 3, 2015
EAST LYME - They arrive at the state's Niantic rehabilitation farm often looking like walking skeletons: rescued horses, goats, cows, and sheep that have been neglected, starved, beaten or abandoned by their owners.
A few weeks of decent food, water, shelter and veterinary care can produce stunning changes in these victims of animal abuse seized by the state.
"It's awesome to see the transformations that go on here," said Dr. Lara Gardner, the farm's regular vet for eight years.
What is far less obvious is how nursing these animals back to health can change the inmates assigned to help out at the five-acre "Second Chance" farm within the state's Niantic prison complex.
"We've had inmates due to get out who didn't want to leave the animals," said Ray Connors, a supervisor with the state's animal control unit who has been involved with the rehabilitation farm since it opened in 2003.
Connors is a 31-year veteran with the state Department of Agriculture. A heavy-set man with a graying mustache, Connors has witnessed first-hand what helping abused animals can mean to the inmates.
One prisoner, Connors recalled, was a repeat offender who was assigned to help with two miniature horses the state had seized from their owner. "He had drug issues," said Connors, "and he knew the horses could keep him out of trouble."
The inmate had his wife buy the little horses when they came up at auction.
"He hasn't been back since," Connors added.
Full text:
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-animal-rehab-farm-20150803-story.html#page=1
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6. Parker joins IIAD as interim director
By IIAD
Bovine Veterinarian
August 3, 2015
Gerald Parker, DVM, Ph.D., M.S., has joined the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Center of Excellence, as Interim Director effective August 1, 2015.
Parker currently serves as Vice President for Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Texas A&M Health Science Center - a role he will continue to maintain as he joins IIAD.
"Emerging, reemerging, and transboundary infectious diseases are the new normal," said Parker. "Most of these diseases emerge from animals and can have significant economic, health, societal, and political impacts. IIAD has become a critical partner for many stakeholders in government, industry and academia in protecting animal health and homeland security. I look forward to building on that success and enhancing multidisciplinary collaborations to promote global health security for animal health and public health, as well as our own well-being."
Founded in April 2004 and headquartered at Texas A&M University, the Institute focuses on research, education and outreach to prevent, detect, mitigate and recover from transboundary, emerging and/or zoonotic diseases, which may be introduced intentionally or through natural processes.
Full text:
http://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/parker-joins-iiad-interim-director
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7. Vaccine success holds hope for end to deadly scourge of Ebola
|By Kate Kelland and Tom Miles
Reuters
July 31, 2015
LONDON/GENEVA The world is on the verge of being able to protect humans against Ebola, the World Health Organization said on Friday, as a trial in Guinea found a vaccine to have been 100 percent effective.
Initial results from the trial, which tested Merck (MRK.N) and NewLink Genetics' (NLNK.O) VSV-ZEBOV vaccine on some 4,000 people who had been in close contact with a confirmed Ebola case, showed complete protection after 10 days.
The results were described as "remarkable" and "game changing" by global health specialists.
"We believe that the world is on the verge of an efficacious Ebola vaccine," WHO vaccine expert Marie Paule Kieny told reporters in a briefing from Geneva.
The vaccine could now be used to help end the worst recorded outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 11,200 people in West Africa since it began in December 2013.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the results, published online in the medical journal The Lancet, would "change the management of the current Ebola outbreak and future outbreaks".
Full text:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/31/us-health-ebola-vaccine-idUSKCN0Q51FP20150731
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